Power Gear

The LandingZone has announced what they call “the most powerful Apple MacBook docking station to-date.” It just might be. This new docking station offers an oh-so-awesome 16 different ports and can turn your MacBook Pro with Touch Bar into a powerful workstation. At $299 it is pricey, but the added functionality is unparalleled if you want an impressive desktop computer.

With the summer winding down, we all know one thing is for certain — back to school sales will be everywhere you turn. But not everything on your shopping list should be pens and pencils, you should pick up a few products by Belkin to make sure that student goes back to school in Style.

Like most households, as I look around, there are devices everywhere that need charging. In my house, that means one iPad, an iPad Mini, an iPhone SE, a Google Pixel XL, a Yoga Book tablet, a Nexus 6P and three different portable battery packs.

If you travel regularly to different countries, then you know that an assortment of power adapters for each country you’ll be visiting is a necessary investment. Here to make worldwide charging of your MacBook and phone (or tablet) more simple is the Innergie PowerJoy 30C USB-C Wall Charger.

We’ve all seen the USB hubs that look like a black or silver block with three or more USB ports on the front and a wall charger cable on the back, right? They work well enough, but they aren’t particularly organized or nice looking. Here to prove that you can have organization and good looks is the Nomad USB Hub.

If you have an iPhone and tend to use a portable battery pack when you’re on the go, but dread having to lug around a long cable — only to have to wrap it around the battery pack so it doesn’t look unsightly — you really need to check out the 4″ Anker Powerline Lightning cable.

Griffin is a great mobile accessories company that prides themselves on making the smart devices that you use more functional. Griffin allowed us to check out their Reserve Power Bank, which is a new solution to a problem many of us smartphone and tablet users have: not enough juice to get through a long day. So let’s check them out.

Moshi IonSlim 5k Battery Pack is an ultra-slim rechargeable battery back; if you’re constantly dealing with your device having a low battery, then this may be the battery pack that you should always have with you.

One thing you can never have enough of is outlet space in your home or office, and for that, you can buy a power strip, or even better, a surge protector power strip. If you look on Amazon, you’ll see that there are tons of surge protector power strips available, but none are quite like the OneAdaptr STACK Modular Surge Protector series.

If you’ve got a tablet or phone that uses USB Type-C, then you’ll be glad to know that the myCharge HubPlus C is out and ready to charge your new LG, Samsung, Huawei, BlackBerry, Pixel, or other devices that take Type-C. But if you have an older device, too, it’s okay; the HubPlus C has both Type-C and microUSB built-in.

One of the things I like about my 2015 Macbook Pro is that unlike newer MacBooks, it has the magnetic charger that used to differentiate Apple laptops from all others. If my cable gets bumped or pulled, it breaks free from my laptop — rather than crashing everything to the floor. SynCharge promises to give Type-C MacBooks back that feature.

Good luggage is hard to find, but if you’ve ever heard of the company Away Luggage, then you’ve noticed their 4.7 rating for their products on their own site, as well as the good reviews found in a simple Google Search.

We cover a lot of portable batteries here, but it’s not often that we review one that is targeted at (and powerful enough to charge) laptops — the 12″ MacBook in particular — like the myCharge RazorPlatinum.

One of the things that I used do when packing to go overseas was to make sure that I had my collection of plug adapters and a bulky international power strip ready to go; these days I just make sure that I have the Oneadaptr Twist+ World Adapter DUO.

Finding a spot to plug my USB cables into is a never-ending game that gets played out every day; there are simply more cables than I have ports for, and every new generation laptop seems to come with fewer (if any at all). If you’re in the same boat, the Just Mobile AluCharge can help.

Paracable manufactures high-quality charging cables, including Lightning and MicroUSB varieties. The cables are wrapped in 32-strand paracord, which provides excellent durability and strength and all Lightning cables are Apple MFi Certified, so you know they’ll work. If you don’t love it, Paracables will give you your money back within 30 days. Get your Paracable now, starting at $15.95.

For a time, it seemed as if every external battery was alike; they all had some sort of housing, a charging port to power up the battery and one or two ports into which a device cable could be plugged.

Charging cables are a simple fact of modern life. And while inexpensive cables abound- after all, pretty much every mobile device and accessory includes one- the right cable can make a huge difference. Nomad offers three different cables in their Ultra Rugged Cable Series, and one of them stands out as the only cable you will ever need.

One of the first things you want as a smart home user is a Smart Outlet that will work, even if you don’t have products like smart bulbs, smart hubs, etc. The ConnectSense Smart Outlet not only integrates perfectly into your home, but it’s the only one on the market with a specific set of features unseen in others.

I’m a huge fan of my Apple Airpods. They’re small, light, and sound great for everyday use. But I wanted to differentiate myself from every other guy on the streets of New York City. Enter BlackPods, a New Jersey-based customization service that beautifully re-finishes those stark white AirPods Black.